Passengers on public transport will have comprehensive travel information on
their mobile phones and through websites like Google under a plans being
drawn up for Gordon Brown.

The Prime Minister has enlisted Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the founder of the internet, to devise a strategy to make a raft of information open to all.

Sir Tim, the Government's newly appointed information tsar, and Nigel Shadbolt, professor of artificial intelligence at Southampton are due to present their report to Mr Brown by the end of the year.

It will mean that transport providers, such as train, tube and bus companies, will lose the right to demand a hefty fee from anyone who wishes to publish the information - such as independent travel websites and companies devising programs for mobile phones.

Other information will also be opened up from within and beyond Whitehall, including mapping information from Ordnance Survey, traffic and accident statistics.

Underpinning the strategy is the Prime Minister's belief that a lot more could be done with data if it was more readily available.

Related Articles

"It is only moral pressure at the moment, but I think it will require legislation," said Chris Osborne from ITO World one of the companies involved in the project.

"There is an awful lot of data, such as train schedules and bus schedules, but companies don't want to share it. It is about putting the information out there, putting it at people's fingertips.

"There are large companies like the Government's Transport Direct, but it doesn't work very well. It costs the taxpayer a huge amount to maintain, but it is rarely used."

In addition many companies are fiercely protective of their information.

Earlier this year National Rail Enquiries, an offshoot of the Association of Train Operating Companies, took legal action to shut down a free iPhone timetable application.

Instead it expected passengers to pay £4.99 for an official product. ATOC's move has since triggered an investigation by the Office of Rail Regulation.

Trainline, an independent retailer of rail tickets, believes data should be easier to get hold of. "We believe there should be unencumbered access to the material, especially real-time train information," said Ben Pearson, the company's commercial director.

Ashwin Kumar, director of Passenger Focus, the consumer watchdog agreed. "While scheduled train information is readily available, there are more problems during times of disruption," he said.

MPs from all parties are also calling for the information to be released, with more than 30 signing a Commons motion backing the change.

Mr Brown's initiative was praised by Stephen Joseph, executive director of the Campaign for Better Transport. "The principle should be that mapping and timetable information is free so people can get bespoke travel information," he said. "But there does need to be quality control to make sure that the information is reliable."

A Downing Street spokesman said that the Government believed that this material - as well as a raft of Government data - should be readily available to those who wish to use it and present it in a consumer-friendly manner.

"So that Government information is accessible and useful for the widest possible group of people the Prime Minister has already asked Sir Tim Berners-Lee who led the creation of the World Wide Web and Professor Nigel Shadbolt to help us drive the opening up of access to Government data in the web over the coming months. Both Sir Tim and Professor Shadbolt are making good progress.

"The Prime Minister last welcomed Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Professor Nigel Shadbolt to Downing Street on 15 September. Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Professor Shadbolt presented an update about the goal of delivering a single online access point to Government information."

However a spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies defended its approach to releasing information. “Timetable, fares and real-time information from National Rail Enquiries is readily available," he said. " In addition to the national rail website which can be viewed from your computer or mobile phone, the information is available on a number of third party websites such as transport direct.”